As the elections are just around the corner, war of words has gripped the political arena. With the recent Pulwama terror attack, the Opposition parties have tightened the noose around Modi government. With political parties having begun their round of election campaigning, the Opposition has left no stone unturned to counter BJP-led government, after IAF airstrike, questions on national security emerge.
The Pulwama terror attack, which shook the entire nation and took lives of 44 army jawans, brought many questions related to national security. The attack left the nation in shock and in deep mourning, generating unprecedented anger and the demand for retribution. There were many questions that were unanswered after the attack, for instance, why weren’t soldiers air-lifted?, How did the terrorist know the exact location of the Army convoy? And many more. But the Opposition left no time and attacked the Modi government for lapses in the national security.
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Here are a few attacks that took place in the last five years:
2014 Assam violence: In December 2014, a series of attacks by militants resulted in the deaths of more than 76 people in India. The attacks took place in the Chirang, Sonitpur and Kokrajhar districts on 23 December 2014. They have been attributed to the Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland: NDFB(S). A curfew was imposed in parts of the three districts. 55 companies of central paramilitary forces were deployed. The investigation was assigned to the National Investigation Agency.
2015 Manipur ambush: United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia insurgents ambushed a military convoy in Chandel district on 4 June 2015, resulting in the loss of life for eighteen soldiers of the Indian Army. Fifteen soldiers also suffered serious injuries. The United Liberation Front publicly claimed responsibility for the attack. On 9 June 2015, acting on intelligence provided by the Indian Intelligence Bureau, MI and the Research and Analysis Wing, and with support of the Indian Air Force, carried out a cross-border operation into Myanmar. It resulted in the death of 158 insurgents, including those responsible for the attack on the convoy. Indian forces entered several kilometres inside the territory of Myanmar to destroy two camps of insurgents outfits National Socialist Council of Nagaland and Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup that were hiding there after their attacks in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh on June 4.
2016 Pampore attack: The 2016 Pampore attack was an attack by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants on 25 June 2016, near Frestabal area of Pampore on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway in Jammu and Kashmir. At around 16:40 on 25 June 2016, a Central Reserve Police Force convoy, consisting of six vehicles, was ambushed by three or four militants while en route from Pantha Chowk to Pampore. The convoy came under attack as it was slowing down at a bend in the highway in order to make a turn. Carrying AK-47s and grenades, the militants attacked a bus carrying over 40 CRPF officers, killing eight officers and injuring over 20 others, several critically. In the ensuing gun battle, two of the militants were killed. It was reported that one or two militants might have escaped.
2016 Uri attack: The 2016 Uri attack was an attack by four heavily armed militants on 18 September 2016, near the town of Uri in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It was reported as “the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in two decades”. The militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed was blamed by India of being involved in the planning and execution of the attack. At the time of the attack, the Kashmir Valley region was at the centre of unrest. 2017 Sukma attack: The Sukma attack was an ambush carried out by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) against Indian paramilitary forces on 24 April 2017, during the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. It was the largest ambush since a similar attack in 2010, in the neighbouring district of Dantewada. The ambush took place between Burkapal and Chintagufa in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, India. A group of 300 Maoists attacked a 99-member troop of the Central Reserve Police Force. Three Maoists and 25 police personnel were killed in the ensuing firefight.
Bhopal–Ujjain Passenger train bombing: The 2017 Bhopal–Ujjain Passenger train bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred on March 7, 2017 on the Bhopal–Ujjain Passenger, a passenger train which runs between Bhopal Junction railway station of Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh and Ujjain Junction railway station. The bombing occurred at Jabri railway station in the Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh, injuring 10 passengers. It was stated to be the first-ever strike in India by the so-called Islamic State. One of the terrorist suspect was later killed in an encounter in Lucknow. It was stated by the police that the module was self-radicalised and didn’t receive any financial support from the group. Six persons were later arrested. National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe reports stated that the ISIS-inspired module had also conspired to bomb a rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
2017 Amarnath Yatra attack: On 10 July 2017, the first Monday of the month of Shraavana, 8 Hindu civilian pilgrims on the way from Amarnath Temple in Kashmir Valley, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were killed in a terror attack. The pilgrims mostly belonged to the Indian state of Gujarat. Seven people were killed and at least 18 people were injured in the attack. 2018 Sunjuwan attack: On 10 February 2018, at predawn, Jaish-e-Mohammed fidayeen attacked an Indian Army camp in Sunjuwan, Jammu, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. 11 soldiers, 4 attackers and 1 civilian were killed and 20 injured including 14 soldiers, five women and children. Notably, this attack coincided with the death anniversary of Afzal Guru, a convict in the 2001 Indian parliament attack. The attack has been described as one of the worst since the 2016 Uri attack. The man described by the Indian Army as the mastermind of the attack, Mufti Waqas, a commander in Jaish-e-Mohammed, was killed in an army operation on 5 March 2018 in south Kashmir’s Awantipur.
2019 Pulwama terror attack: On 14 February 2019, a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethpora (near Awantipora) in the Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The attack resulted in the deaths of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and the attacker. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. The attacker was Adil Ahmad Dar, a local from Pulwama district, and a member of Jaish-e-Mohammed. India has blamed Pakistan for the attack. Pakistan condemned the attack and denied any connection to it. 2019 Jammu Bus stand grenade blast: A teenager was killed and 32 others were injured in the grenade attack by suspected terrorists in the crowded general bus stand area in the heart of the city. 